Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has signed a joint venture to begin a feasibility study in the country

On Tuesday, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) announced that it has set up a joint venture with local partners Dwi Putranto Sulaksono and Ron Mullers called Hyperloop Transtek Indonesia.

Through the joint venture, the parties have allocated US$2.5 million to conduct feasibility study to build the Hyperloop technology in the country.

Conducted between three to six months, the feasibility study will analyze three potential routes: Connecting Jakarta to Soekarno-Hatta airport in Tangerang, major airports in Java, and major airports in Sumatra.

“The airports of Java will be just [like] one terminal! Imagine what it can do for the economy,” says Bebop G. Gresta, Chairman & Chief Bibop Officer at HTT, during an interview with e27.

Destination Indonesia

HTT is not the only tech company who is currently undergoing negotiations with governments across the world to do feasibility study, and eventually build the hyperloop technology in their soil. Its competitor Hyperloop One has recently conducted tests in the Nevada desert.

HTT itself has secured five out of the 20 negotiations it is doing. In United Arab Emirates, the company is currently in the final stage of feasibility study, which results will be revealed by end of March.

With Indonesia itself, though there has not been any written agreement with the government, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Semadi was present during the signing of the MOU.

“There is no perfect geographical condition for Hyperloop. [But] there is the perfect economic condition [for it]. You have density, lack of infrastructure, and the need for a solution. So [it’s] the combination of the three,” Gresta answers.

The ability to start from zero also seems to be an advantage for Indonesia.

“If you go to Europe, or Japan, and ask them to switch their railway system to Hyperloop, it will take years. [But] in countries where they don’t have a legacy, the burden of this antiquated system … They are at the forefront of innovation. Like Africa, they pass from nothing to 5G, without having to pass through intermediate technology,” he further elaborates.

Regarding possible challenges such as land acquisition, Gresta believes that the case for Hyperloop will be the different with the case of, for example, high-speed rail.

“With high-speed rail you go to a farmer and you say, give me your land and I will disrupt it completely. Your animals can’t migrate anymore, you can’t access the other side of the land. It will be noisy … And the value of the land goes down. Of course farmers will oppose it in any way they can,” he explains.

“With Hyperloop, we can say: Give me a little piece of your land. And in exchange I will give you electricity. Because the system is built with renewable energy … Even the static from the tube can be brought to produce electricity. Combined with solar panel, and geothermal in areas where solar panel is not feasible, it can generate up to 30 per cent of electricity,” he continues.

“There is no perfect geographical condition for Hyperloop. [But] there is the perfect economic condition [for it]. You have density, lack of infrastructure, and the need for a solution. So [it’s] the combination of the three,” Gresta answers.

The ability to start from zero also seems to be an advantage for Indonesia.

“If you go to Europe, or Japan, and ask them to switch their railway system to Hyperloop, it will take years. [But] in countries where they don’t have a legacy, the burden of this antiquated system … They are at the forefront of innovation. Like Africa, they pass from nothing to 5G, without having to pass through intermediate technology,” he further elaborates.

Regarding possible challenges such as land acquisition, Gresta believes that the case for Hyperloop will be the different with the case of, for example, high-speed rail.

“With high-speed rail you go to a farmer and you say, give me your land and I will disrupt it completely. Your animals can’t migrate anymore, you can’t access the other side of the land. It will be noisy … And the value of the land goes down. Of course farmers will oppose it in any way they can,” he explains.

“With Hyperloop, we can say: Give me a little piece of your land. And in exchange I will give you electricity. Because the system is built with renewable energy … Even the static from the tube can be brought to produce electricity. Combined with solar panel, and geothermal in areas where solar panel is not feasible, it can generate up to 30 per cent of electricity,” he continues.

Some of these volunteers include NASA retirees who had worked in the Apollo mission.

“The way I see it is that this is the biggest attempt by humanity to put together the best minds to solve one of the biggest problems,” Gresta said.

“Do you want a mediocre engineer for a month or 10 hours of the best minds in the industry?” He questioned.

Considering himself as an idealist, Gresta believes that the time has come for humanity to change.

Historically, roads have played a significant role in building the economy, but the era of building cities around cars is obsolete now.

“Do you know what is the greatest weapon that the Roman Empire has built? Roads. Roads allow you to transport goods, tools, things that you need to make your economy … [But] right now we are stuck in our own mistakes. Hyperloop can give us the chance to not repeat our mistakes.”